from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Discrete \Dis*crete"\, a. [L. discretus, p. p. of discernere.
See {Discreet}.]
1. Separate; distinct; disjunct. --Sir M. Hale.
[1913 Webster]
2. Disjunctive; containing a disjunctive or discretive
clause; as, "I resign my life, but not my honor," is a
discrete proposition.
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3. (Bot.) Separate; not coalescent; -- said of things usually
coalescent.
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{Discrete movement}. See {Concrete movement of the voice},
under {Concrete}, a.
{Discrete proportion}, proportion where the ratio of the
means is different from that of either couplet; as,
3:6::8:16, 3 bearing the same proportion to 6 as 8 does to
16. But 3 is not to 6 as 6 to 8. It is thus opposed to
continued or {continual proportion}; as, 3:6::12:24.
{Discrete quantity}, that which must be divided into units,
as number, and is opposed to {continued quantity}, as
duration, or extension.
[1913 Webster]